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Ridley & Tony Scott Bring ‘The Sector’ to Cinemax

Virtuosic director siblings Ridley and Tony Scott, through their Scott Free Productions, are working to bring the new television series The Sector to Cinemax.

Envisioned as Blade Runnermeets District 9, The Sector is intended to be an action oriented sci-fi program following "the commander of a paramilitary unit who pursues a dangerous new race of genetically enhanced humans.”

Coincidentally enough, the Scott boys aren’t the only ones sharing DNA involved in the show. Sibling writers, Matthew and Aaron Benay, created The Sector and wrote the script to the pilot episode. The duo have been on a role right out the gate, as their only other writing credit is 1906, Brad Bird’s follow-up to Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.

This will be the second time the Scott brother’s production company has worked with Germany’s Tandem Communications to bring original content to premium cable channels. Last year, the two companies handled the multi-Golden Globe nominated miniseries The Pillars of the Earth, which aired on Starz, and have begun working on its sequel entitled: Pillars, World Without End.

The production deal will bring The Sector to screens through a deal similar to the one that gave the network its first original series, Strike Back. By combining the production capabilities of Cinemax owner HBO and a European counterpart (in this case Tandem and Sky for the latter), the pay channel has laid the groundwork for a complete overhaul.

After HBO set the standard for original series with programs like The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Wire and True Blood, the network is finally setting out to do the same for its sister channel. In the last few months, HBO has been investing some serious amounts of cash into original content designed specifically for Cinemax. This effort should work to not only bring in additional revenue, but also serve as an effective manor in which Cinemax may begin re-branding itself a “guy’s action network.”

Though it’s unlikely the network will totally replace its naughty programming with original series like The Sector, Strike Back and Luc Besson’s The Transporter, Cinemax may at least be able to shed the stigma of decades known as the preeminent destination for teenage boys home alone on a Friday night.

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Strike Back is set to debut this summer with The Transporter following in the fall. The Sector likely won’t be ready until 2012, but stay tuned as we will update everything from casting to air dates as they are announced.